Lace braid and method of manufacturing same



Nov. 15, 1932. o. E. HUBER 1,837,643 LACE BRAID AND METHOD OFMANUFACTURING SAME Filed April 2. 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 l N V EN TOR:awjfaber;

ATTORN Nov. 15, 1932. o. E. HUBER 3 5 LACE BRAID AND METHOD OFMANUFACTURING SAME Filed April 2. 1932' 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IL E- IN VENTOR:

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, Z, QMHTORNEY v Patented Nov. 15, 1932 UNITED s'r ES PATENT OFFICEo'r'ro imam man, or ammo, rmmsnvama, assrcuoa 'ro NARROW ranarc conrm,or wear ammo, rnnnsrnvanm, a'coaroaarron or rmmsnvmra m1 imam am)xn'rno'n or nmnracruamo san Application and April 2, 1m. Serial No.602,696.

This invention relates to elasticlace-braid fabrics, and moreparticularl to the ty disclosed in my Patent N o.- 1, 17 ,215 issued-June 11, 1929; the present invention being an improvement on the subjectmatter covered by said patent and therefore more or less coextensivetherewith.

Elastic lace-braid, or so called pore-elastic braided fabrics, asheretofore produced, areexpansible' lengthwise onl such= fabricsgenerally comprising 'interace-braided lon- 'tudinall extendin elasticand transversey extending inelastic strands. Lace-braid thereby makingit possible to produce therefrom single-piece universally expansibleinserts of any desired length. i

Another object is the provision of such an elastic lace-braid b animproved method and .to embody in ,t e braid, binder strands adapted tofixedlyjoin certain longitudinalllys and transversely extending elasticstran against movement or creeping relative to each other withoutaffecting the universal expansibility' of the fabric; said binderstrands also giving 'the'fabric'the desired amount of body as well asenhancing its ap arance.

or objects ahd attendant advantages will become more readilyapparentfrom t 'e following detailed description of one illustrative embodimentof my invention, reference bein had to the accompanying drawings in w'ch:

- Fig. 1 is a greatly enlarged face view of my novel elastic lace-braidfabric, moreor less diagrammatically represented, and particularly showsthe arrangement of the various strands comprising the same.

is latthis pur Fig. 2 is a sectional view through the fabric shown in Fi1; taken substantiall as indicated by t e arrows 2-2 on sai figure.

Fig. 3 is a faceview of the fabric similar to Fig. 1, but approximatelyto normal scale..

Figs. 4 and 5 are similar diagrammatic face views of the fabric andrespectively illustrate the same expanded longitudinally andtransversely.

Fig. 6' is a diagrammatic composite view, illustrating, at the top, themanner in which the various strands are inter-lace-braided; in thecenter, the course of the bobbins which carry the various strands ofwhich the fabric is formed; and at the bottom a ortion ofthe racevviaycircle course in whic the bobbins trave My improved method of producingthe novel elastic lace-braid is carried out with the aid of a well known'acquard controlled single thread lace braiding machine of the typereferred to in m above mentioned patent and in which the 'iferentbobbins or yarn carriers travel about one or more tellers or quoits, toform a finished fabric-of closed or open lace-likemesh as determined bpattern directed jacquard mechanism. Whlle such a machine is erhaps bestsuited for this purpose, it wil l beunderstood that other lace machines,well known, may be utilized for so. F or example the two thread, three tread and like machines, are also suitable.

Referring to the schematic illustration of Fig. 6, 10 re resents the topplate'of such a known lace raiding machine, 11 the tellers or 'quoitswhich are intermittently rotated under the control of the usual jacquardmech anism, (not, shown) to traverse the bobbins 'or yarn carriers,diagrammatically indicated at '12, some of which" are adapted to remain,at times, on one teller and merely rotate therewith, while others passto adjacent tellers .andback again, and still others traverse the wholeseries of tellers, all in well known manner and in accordance with theselected pattern directing the Jacquard mechanism.

In carrying out the production of the present illustrative lace-braidfabric F of my vinvention, three difierent kinds of strands indicated at13, 14, 15, are employed and these are carried by the various bobbins12. Strands 13 are elastic and especially tensioned so as to increasetheir length during the braiding operation in order to maintain them ina straight taut line from the carriers to the braiding point.

Strands 14 are inelastic and preferably but not necessarily, glossy. Themay be of desiredcolor or combination of colors, and

are traversed, as heretofore, to form the braid pattern illustrated. Inproducing this pat-' tern, the bobbins 12 carryin the comparatively fineelastic strands 15, interbraid their '4 strands with the coarser elasticstrands 13, as clearly shown in Fig. 6. During this procedure strands 13and 14 are unitedly traversed, in groups, in the limited portion of therace circle course; their path of travel being indicated by the arrowsor quoits 11 in said figure.

This united movement of strands 13 and 14 causes the latter to be woundaround the former throughout their entire length, as clearly shown,tothereby locker fixedly ioin the elastic strands 13 and 15 againstmovementor creeping relatively to each other without affecting theelasticity of the finished fabric. To insure the maximum longitudinal aswell as lateral elasticity in the fabric thus produced, the elasticstrands 13 are especially tensioned so as to increase their lengthduring the braiding operation and thereby maintain them in asubstantiall straight line from the carriers to the brai ing point; theelastic strands 1'5 and inelastic strands 14 beingunder slight or normalbraiding tension during the inter-braiding action.

It will be noted that, depending on the gau e of the inelastic strands14, more or ess ody will be imparted to the fabric and that thesestrands are present in the fabric in substantial quantity so that theyalso materially affect the appearance or surface efi'ect of the latter.I

As in the case ofmy above mentioned patented lace braid, when thebraided fabric 'is removed from the machine the elastic strands 13 atonce retract to their normal unstretched length, reducing the length ofthe finished fabric and causmg the strands '14 and 15 to assume relaxedpositions between or about the strands 13, which latter maintain theiring strain thereon. This is clearly illustrated in Figs. 1 and 3.

Due to the presence of elastic strands 15, the fabric thus produced isnotonly expansible in a longitudinal direction as shown 1n Fig. 4,but-is also expansible laterally as shown in Fig. 5; the inelasticstrands. 14 permitting stretching in either direction withoutdistort-ion of the lay of the braided strands and maintaining a firmunion at all pointsbetween the strands 13- and 15. Of course, the designshown, or other desi s, may be so arranged that while distort in thebraiding, they will assume the desired.

pleasing configuration and arrangement in the unstretched finishedfabric.

While I have indicated a preferred lacelike open mesh fabric, it will beapparent that the jacquardmechanism referred to may be operated so thatother pleasing pattern designs can be obtained, and that a closed meshsolid fabric, or a combination open and closed fabric can be produced insimilar manner.

I claim:

"1. An elastic lace-braid fabric comprising in combination,longitudinally. extending elastic strands, transversely extendingelastic strands inter-lace-braided therewith, and one or more binderyarns on said longitudinally extending elastic strands ada ted to joincertain of said inter-lace-braide longitudinally and transverselyextending elastic strands against movement relative to each other.

2. An elastic lace-braid fabric comprising in combination,longitudinally extending elastic strands, transversely extendin elasticstrands inter-lace-braided therewit and one or more gloss binder yarnson said 1ongitudinally exten ing elastic strands adapted to join certainof said inter-lace-braided 1ongitudinally and transversely extendingelastic strands against movement relative to each other. A

3. An elastic lace-braid fabric comprising in combination,longitudinally extending elastic strands, transversely extending elasticstrands inter-lace-braided therewith, and one or more inelastic binderyarns on said longitudinally extending strands adapted to -join certainof said inter-lace-braided longitudinally and transversely extendingelastic.

strands against movement relative to eachother.

4. An elastic lace-braid fabric comprising in combination,longitudinally extending elastic strands, relatively thinner transverse-1y extending elastic strands inter-lace-braided therewith, and aninelastic binder yarn on each of said longitudinally extending elasticstrands ada ted to join said inter-lacebraided longitudinally andtransversely extending elastic strands against movement relative to eachother.

longitudinal positions as there is no distort- .5. The method of makingan elastic lace braid fabric which comprises feeding to a braiding pointlon 'tudinall extending elastic strands in pre etermine spaced relationwith respect to each other, maintaining tension on said strands toelongate the same, at said braiding point interbraiding elastic strandswith said longitudinally extending strands in a transverse directionrelative thereto to produce a lace-like fabric, and simultaneouslyapplying at said braiding point a binder strand to one or more of saidlongitudinally extending strands in such manner as to maintain theinterbraided strands in predetermined position relative to saidlongitudinally extending strands. v 6. The method of making an elasticlace braid fabric which comprises feeding to a braiding oint lonitudinall extendin elastic stran s in pre etermine spaced re ation withrespect to each other, maintaining tension on said strands, to elongatethe same, at said braiding point interbraiding elastic strands with saidlongitudinally extending strands in a transverse direction relativethereto to produce a lace-like fabric, and simultaneously appl ing atsaid braidin point a binder strand to one or more of sai longitudinallyextending strands in such manner as to engage said strandor strandsbetween adjacent interbraided strands to maintain the same inpredetermined position relative to the longitudinally extending strands.

7. The improved method of manufacturing elastic lace-braid-fabric whichconsists in unitedly traversing a series of bobbins in two in limitedportions of a racegroups of circle course, one bobbin from each groupcarrying an elastic yarn to form'a straight lengthwise strand and theother carrying a binder strand which is wound around said elastic yarnduring traverse of said bobbins, maintaining tension on said lengthwisestrand to elongate the same and 'hold it taut, and feeding limitedlytensioned elastic strands from other bobbins freely traversed in the.course so as to lace-braid their strands transversely with thetaut lon'tudi nal strandsin such manner as to be edly joined therewith by thebinder strands; whereby during formation a stretched elastic fabric isproduced adapted when released to relax to substantially the ori 'nallength of the longitudinall extemfiiig elastic strands to form afinished elastic lace-braid fabric Whose longitudinal and transverselyextending elastic strands are" fixed against movement relative to eachother.

The improved method of manufacturing elastic lace-braid fabric whichconsists a series of bobbins mited portions of a from each group cartoform a straight in unitedly traversin in groups of two in %irace-circle, one bobbin an elastic yarn ryin lengfiiwise strand and theother carrying an inelastic binder strand which is wound around saidelastic yarn during traverse of said bobbins, maintaining tension onsaid lengthwise strand to elon ate the same and hold it taut, andfeeding hmitedl tensioned elastic, strands from other bob ins freelytraversed in the course so as to lace-braid their strands transverselywith the taut lonitudinal strands in such manner as to be xedly joinedtherewith by the inelastic binder strands; whereby during formation astretched elasticfabric is produced adapted when released to relax tosubstantially original length of the longitudinally extending elasticstrands to forma finished elastic lace-braid fabric whose longitudinaland transversely extending elastic strands are fixed against movementrelative to each other by said inelastic strands.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

OTTO EUGENE HUBER.

